“Oh, that’s not—” I start, waving off this terrible idea.

“That’d be great, actually.” Jasper speaks over me—all the encouragement I could need to want to spend an evening out with him. “I’ve been trying to network, but it seems like most people I find are transplants. It’d be great to see the city from someone who really knows it.”

I try to keep the expression on my face neutral, but between the amused smirk on Jasper’s face and the heart eyes the Dirty Birds—excluding Collette, obvi—are now sporting, I feel like my head might explode.

I want to say no.

It’s one of my favorite words. I say it all day long. No. No. No.

Two letters.

So simple.

No.

But for some reason, it won’t come out. It’s lodged in the back of my throat and I’m choking on it. Maybe it’s because the Dirty Birds have been there for me so much since Gran passed away that I can’t bear to crush the hopeful looks on their faces. Maybe it’s because even though I know Jasper’s only going along with this to placate Mona and the rest of the ladies, part of me wouldn’t mind spending a little more time with him. I know we have nothing in common and nothing will come from it, but taking a night away from the messy, depressing status of my current life to look at his gorgeous face doesn’t sound like the worst thing in the world.

“Ummm . . .” I draw the word out, my eyes flickering between Jasper and the Dirty Birds, not knowing where to look. “Yeah, I guess that’d be fine.”

I want to regret it, but the way Vivian and Ethel both begin to clap and Beth’s and Mona’s faces light up with joy makes it impossible.

“Great!” Jasper seems genuinely happy I agreed to this ridiculous plan. He pulls his phone out of his back pocket and extends it toward me. “How about we exchange numbers and we can touch base tomorrow on a date and time that works best for both of us?”

“Yeah, sure. That sounds good, I guess.” I bite my lip to stop my nervous rambling. I take his phone and enter my information, only making a few typos with my shaky hands before I hand it back to him.

“Texting you now,” he announces to the group, and I swear Mona nearly falls over with glee.

Even though I always question their motives, and I can’t prove anything, I have a sneaking suspicion that the endgame of Jasper Williams coming to the Book Nook wasn’t really to answer their burning questions, but an excuse to meddle further in my love life, if you can even call it that.

Cunning mother—